DE20313684U1 - Mobile device for drinking water extraction and / or water purification or desalination - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a mobile device for producing drinking water from rainwater, wastewater, process water, seawater or brackish water and/or for water purification or desalination.

There are various systems for cleaning and extracting water, for example from sea water or other domestic water. For example, there are large-scale systems that can be heated electrically or with oil and are partly solar-assisted, in which water is extracted for entire settlements or for irrigating fields using relatively large amounts of energy. These systems are largely immobile. There are also small-scale systems for solar drinking water production for private households, which are made of metal and glass and are therefore also relatively difficult to transport. In these systems, the water is usually not boiled and evaporated.

After natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, etc. or after armed conflicts, the drinking water supply systems in the affected regions are often so damaged and impaired that sufficient drinking water cannot be provided for the population. Sterile water for preparing solutions for wound care and operations is also often in short supply. In such situations, alternative drinking water systems are required for a transitional period. The systems currently available on the market are unsuitable for such use because they are heavy, difficult to transport and usually not robust enough.

DE 43 21 192 A1 describes a device for distilling water at temperatures below 100 ⁰ C, which is intended to be used for desalination of sea and brackish water in dry and sunny climates. The device comprises a radiation energy converter, an energy collector (solar collector), an energy storage device, a flat evaporator, flat plate heat exchangers and a piping system. These components consist primarily of Ie-

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Food-safe plastics, preferably propylene. It is also proposed to set up the device in a north-south orientation and to supply it with solar energy via mirrors aligned according to the current position of the sun.

A process for obtaining pure water by evaporating salty water in an air stream that is heated with solar energy is known from DE 196 20 214 A1. In the process, the air flows through several stages connected in series, each consisting of a solar collector with a connected humidifier, in order to gradually charge the air with a large amount of water. The moisture absorbed by the air condenses as salt-free water in a washer charged with cooled water through direct condensation.

Finally, a device for solar drinking water production from sea or brackish water is known from DE 199 15 818 A1. The device is intended to largely dispense with electronic control and is primarily suitable for regions with weak or non-existent infrastructure and a lack of relevant services. The device is designed to generate solar energy and use it to produce drinking water in vacuum evaporators. The vacuum evaporators can, for example, have commercially available heat exchangers and can, if necessary, be connected and/or piped together in a cascade-like arrangement.

An aim of the present invention is to provide a device for producing drinking water which is as simple as possible in construction and easily transportable and which can be operated with thermal energy, in particular with solar energy.

This aim of the invention is achieved by the subject matter of the independent claim. Features of advantageous developments of the invention emerge from the dependent claims.

Accordingly, a mobile device for producing drinking water from rainwater, wastewater, industrial water, seawater or brackish water and/or for water purification or desalination has a solar collector which has first and second

te pipes are connected to a first or second water tank. The first tank can be filled with raw water to be cleaned or desalinated, which can be collected in the second tank as cleaned or desalinated water after passing through the solar collector and the warming or heating that takes place. According to the present invention, the second tank is arranged inside the first tank. Heat transfer preferably takes place between the second and first containers. For this purpose, the second container can be made of heat-conducting material, in particular aluminum, copper or the like. The first container is preferably made of heat-insulating material, in particular plastic. If necessary, the first container can have additional heat insulation on its outside.

An alternative or additional variant of the invention can provide that a heat exchanger is arranged within the second pipe between the water outlet of the collector and the second container, with the help of which the heat energy contained in the purified water can be quickly and largely transferred to the raw water. The heat exchanger can in particular be designed as a simple tube heat exchanger, which consists, for example, of spiral-shaped copper pipe. The heat exchanger can be immersed in the raw water of the first container and have an outlet that opens into the second container. In this way, the steam no longer condenses in the second container, but is condensed within the copper tube coil located in the raw water, releasing the latent heat. The drinking water then simply runs out of the coil at the bottom, the lower end of which is sensibly led out of the first container. The principle of heat exchange from the steam to the raw water remains unchanged. However, the copper coil of the heat exchanger enables faster and more effective heat transfer between the two liquid reservoirs.

In the device according to the invention, the raw water is brought to the boil in the solar collector, which is designed as a flat collector, for example. Such a collector can be easily opened for cleaning purposes. The steam generated in the solar collector condenses in the second container, which is in thermal contact with the first container, so that the raw water in the first container is preheated by this condensation before it reaches the collector. The fill level of the collector is determined by the fill level of the raw water vessel according to the principle of communication.

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decorative tubes or vessels. The preheated raw water can be used overnight, for example, to produce clean, demineralized water through evaporation. The collector is connected to the containers via hose connections, which can be easily dismantled if necessary. If necessary, a water vessel system with any number of collectors can be set up in this way, which can also be easily dismantled.

The fill level in the first container is equal to the fill level of the water in it due to the collector being arranged at the appropriate height. The first container is connected at its bottom to a lower inlet of the solar collector. The second container is connected at its top to an upper outlet of the solar collector. The first container can have an open or closable top through which it can be filled or emptied. The first container can also have an open top through which it can be filled.

The solar collector can be aligned either diagonally or frontally to the current position of the sun, so that the desired solar radiation can be absorbed at any time and used to heat the water inside.

The raw water in the first tank can, if necessary, be automatically refilled using a float valve. In a simpler embodiment, the raw water in the first tank must be refilled manually.

A further advantageous embodiment is that the solar collector can be heated by means of an external heating device or by means of an open fireplace. The solar collector can consist in particular of a flat base plate made of insulating material, a light-absorbing layer on top of it to absorb circulating water, a transparent thermal insulation layer arranged above it and a transparent protective layer made of plastic or mineral glass that closes off the collector to the outside. The rear base plate can be removed for direct heating, so that the collector can be heated, for example, via an open fireplace if required.

Further features, objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the

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invention, given as a non-limiting example and with reference to the accompanying drawing.

The single figure shows a device for water extraction according to the invention, which essentially comprises a flat solar collector 10 and a two-part container system 12. This is connected to the solar collector 10 via a pipe system 14. The support of the solar collector 10 is preferably an insulation panel 16, which is either made of inherently rigid insulation material (commercially available insulation panel) or is given its stability by means of a suitable plastic encapsulation, for example. A hollow panel 18 made of plastic or aluminum or the like, which is approximately 3 to 8 mm thick, preferably approximately 5 mm thick, and in which the raw water is heated, is detachably attached to this insulation layer. The hollow panel 18 comprises an upper and lower side, which are screwed together at the edge with a seal, so that a hollow panel 18 is produced which is easy to dismantle for cleaning but is sealed.

The water connections, namely a water inlet 20 and a water outlet 22, are also located on this plate 18. The plate 18 is preferably stabilized by ribbing on its top and bottom. On this plate lies a transparent composite plate 24, which consists of transparent thermal insulation and an acrylic or mineral glass plate. The transparent thermal insulation is, for example, a 40 to 160 mm thick plastic honeycomb made of transparent plastic film. Cellulose acetate is a suitable material for this. This transparent honeycomb structure is highly translucent and has very good thermal insulation properties. The transparent thermal insulation is connected to the glass plate to create a light, stable composite plate 24 that closes off the solar collector 10 at the top.

The container system 12 consists of two containers placed one inside the other. The larger, first container 26 contains raw water 28, which can be fed to the solar collector 10 via a pipe connection 30 attached deep to the container 26 and a first pipe 32 via the water inlet 20. Inside the first container 26 there is a smaller second container 34 in which the purified water 36 is collected. For this purpose, a second pipe 38 leads from the water outlet 22 of the solar collector 10 to the second container 34 and empties into it. The second container

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The first container 34 preferably consists of a heat-conducting metal, such as aluminum or copper, and is vapor-tight. The first container 26 with the raw water 28 contained therein is significantly larger and preferably consists of heat-insulating plastic, such as ABS or the like. If necessary, the first container 26 can also be additionally heat-insulated on the outside.

The device according to the invention functions as follows. The solar collector 10 is positioned at an angle or perpendicular to the sun. The water vessel system 12 is connected to the collector 10 via the hose system 14 and set up and filled in such a way that, according to the principle of communicating vessels, the collector 10 is filled with raw water 28 up to just below the upper water outlet 22. The water in the collector 10 begins to boil due to the solar radiation. The steam escapes via the upper water outlet 22 and reaches the second container 34 as purified water 36 via the second pipe 38. The water condenses there because the walls of the second container 34 are cooled from the outside by the raw water 28. During condensation, the latent heat is released via the drinking water vessel wall and the raw water 28, which is preheated in this way.

Since the energy released during condensation is greater than the energy required to heat water from approx. 20 ⁰ C to 100 ⁰ C, the raw water container contains many times more hot raw water than the condensed drinking water in the evening. A heat-conducting lid can be placed on top of this overnight with a suitable device (collecting channel) to collect the evaporated water that has condensed on it. In this way, drinking water that has not yet been boiled can be obtained overnight by cooling the hot raw water.

An alternative or additional variant of the device according to the invention can consist in that an additional heat exchanger (not shown) is arranged within the second pipe 38 between the water outlet 22 of the collector 10 and the second container 34 with the purified or treated drinking water 36 located therein, with the aid of which the thermal energy contained in the purified water 36 can be transferred quickly and largely to the raw water 28. The heat exchanger can in particular be designed as a simple tube heat exchanger, which consists, for example, of a spiral-shaped copper tube. The heat exchanger can be immersed in the raw water 28 of the first container 26 and have an outlet that opens into the second container 34. In this way, the

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which flows into the second container 34. In this way, the steam no longer condenses in the second container 34, but is condensed within the copper pipe coil located in the raw water 28, releasing latent heat. The drinking water 36 then simply runs out of the bottom of the coil, the lower end of which is sensibly led out of the first container 26 and into the second container 34. The principle of heat exchange from the steam into the raw water 28 remains unchanged in this variant. However, the copper coil of the heat exchanger enables faster and more effective heat transfer between the two liquid reservoirs. Of course, the above-mentioned variant of the second container 34 consisting of heat-conducting metal can be used in addition to this heat exchanger variant.

If available, an additional water pipe can be attached to the raw water tank, which can be used to ensure that the raw water tank is kept at a constant level using a float valve. Otherwise, water can also be added manually from time to time.

If the sun does not shine for a long time, the system can also be operated by removing the rear insulation panel and lighting a fire under the collector.

Claims (19)

1. Mobile device for producing drinking water from rainwater, waste water, industrial water, sea water or brackish water and/or for water purification or desalination, with a solar collector ( 10 ) which is connected via first and second pipes ( 32 and 38 ) to a first or a second water tank ( 26 or 34 ), wherein the first tank ( 26 ) can be filled with raw water ( 28 ) to be purified or desalinated, which can be collected as purified or desalinated water ( 36 ) in the second tank ( 34 ), characterized in that the second tank ( 34 ) is arranged within the first tank ( 26 ). 2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that a filling level in the first or second container ( 26 or 34 ) is in each case equal to a filling level of the solar collector ( 10 ). 3. Device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the first container ( 26 ) is connected at a bottom via the first pipe ( 32 ) to a lower water inlet ( 20 ) of the solar collector ( 10 ). 4. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the second container ( 34 ) is connected at an upper side via the second pipe ( 38 ) to an upper water drain ( 22 ) of the solar collector ( 10 ). 5. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the first container ( 26 ) has an open upper side through which it can be filled. 6. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that both containers ( 26 , 34 ) each have an open upper side. 7. Device according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the second container ( 34 ) has a closed, in particular a vapor-tight top. 8. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a heat transfer takes place between the second and the first container ( 34 , 26 ). 9. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the second pipeline ( 38 ) has a heat exchanger for transferring heat to the raw water ( 28 ). 10. Device according to claim 9, characterized in that the heat exchanger is at least partially immersed in the first container ( 26 ) which can be filled with raw water ( 28 ) or is arranged in this. 11. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the second container ( 34 ) consists of heat-conducting material, in particular of aluminum, copper or the like. 12. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the first container ( 26 ) consists of heat-insulating material, in particular of plastic. 13. Device according to claim 12, characterized in that the first container ( 26 ) has additional external thermal insulation. 14. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the solar collector ( 10 ) can be aligned obliquely or frontally to a current position of the sun. 15. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the raw water ( 28 ) in the first container ( 26 ) can be automatically refilled. 16. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the raw water ( 28 ) in the first container ( 26 ) can be automatically refilled by means of a float valve from a larger supply or a raw water reservoir. 17. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the solar collector ( 10 ) can be heated by means of an external heating device or by means of an open fireplace. 18. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the solar collector ( 10 ) consists of a flat base plate or insulation plate ( 16 ) made of insulation material, a hollow plate ( 18 ) resting thereon for receiving circulating raw water ( 28 ) to be heated and a transparent composite plate ( 24 ) made of plastic or mineral glass arranged thereon, which insulates heat and closes off the collector ( 10 ) to the outside. 19. Device according to claim 17 or 18, characterized in that the rear insulation plate ( 16 ) of the solar collector ( 10 ) is removable for its direct heating.